City engineers seek board input on Library Park upgrades and Veterans Monument expansion

City engineers presented designs and cost estimates for upgrades to Library Park and its Veterans Monument and asked the Arts & Beautification Board to rank optional enhancements that would be taken to the City Council for budget authorization.

The presentation, led by the city engineer (Dan Carmody) and project engineer (Rayam Soltani), recapped an approved base layout and a schedule: 60% plans are complete, 100% design is expected in April, the team plans to bid in spring and construct this summer with the goal of completing work by Veterans Day. “We have already gotten council to approve a updated layout to Veterans Monument,” Dan Carmody said, adding the team will return to council for budget authorization in March.

The base project responds to persistent drainage failures and ADA-access limitations at the park. Engineers said the underground drainage system beneath the lawn has failed and noted wet conditions during ceremonies that have made temporary seating unusable. Soltani described a base-scope change that would remove planters to increase paved seating and add a fence around the playground for toddler safety.

On funding, staff said roughly $500,000 is currently in the project budget: about $250,000 came via a state appropriation identified in the presentation as secured through Senator John Lubbock, and another $250,000 came through local appropriations. Carmody also outlined existing professional contracts for landscape design and wetland work and said the remaining construction, contingency and management funds total about $364,000 under the current estimate.

The project team presented optional add-ons and price ranges: adding seven columns in the near term and preserving a future expansion could allow room for additional names; a fully loaded enhancement package (benches, flagpoles, drinking fountain, upgraded lighting and furnishings) was estimated in the presentation at about $1.4 million, while a smaller columns-plus-benches package was presented near $540,000. For lighting and electrical upgrades the team gave a figure that included pulling new service, conduit and prevailing wages and estimated the work at roughly $63,000–$66,000; several board members questioned why earlier line items had shown lower figures.

Playground options included a base safety package (fencing and wood chips) already budgeted at about $39,000 and larger footprint-and-equipment packages ranging from about $166,000 to $240,000 depending on the option chosen. Engineers said irrigation, fountain and planting upgrades had separate estimates — irrigation upgrade: $42,000–$46,000; drinking fountain: about $70,000 — and noted that lawn restoration would be included where crews excavate to repair drainage.

Board members and staff agreed on a next step: staff will send the full presentation and a short online poll asking each board member to rank their top four enhancement priorities. “If you guys can get back to us within a week, that’d be awesome,” the city engineer said during the meeting. Staff said they will average board and parks department rankings, identify overlaps, and bring a consolidated recommendation to City Council, which was scheduled in the presentation for March 10 for budget authorization.

The meeting also included a routine procedural vote to approve the January 28 meeting minutes, which passed by voice vote. The board discussed a parallel idea — commissioning an arts-and-culture needs assessment or community survey to guide longer-term arts investments — and staff said the city will include arts questions in an upcoming DRCC community survey.

Next steps: board members will complete the ranking poll when it is issued, staff will verify cost figures and return with a recommended package for council action, and the team expects to complete construction-phase work later this year pending council authorization.